US
Colonel Kidnaps, Holds Family of Iraqi General Hostage
by Eric Garris
July 30, 2003

Col.
David Hogg, a U.S. commander in Iraq, has admitted taking hostages
to flush out an Iraqi General. The admission appeared in Monday's
Washington Post more as bragging than the admission of
a crime.

But
a crime it is. According to the Geneva
Convention, Part III, Section I, Provisions Common to the Territories
of the Parties to the Conflict and to Occupied Territories, Article
34: "The taking of hostages is prohibited."

Col.
David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division,
said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence.
On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and
daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you
want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics are
justified, he said, because, "It's an intelligence operation with
detainees, and these people have info." They would have been released
in due course, he added later. (emphasis added)

The
tactic worked. On Friday, Hogg said, the lieutenant general appeared
at the front gate of the U.S. base and surrendered.